Substrate housing structure

ABSTRACT

A substrate housing structure includes a container, a cover, a bag, and a band. The container holds substrates therein. The over covers an opening of the container. The bag is disposed in a space between. the cover and a storing object including at least the substrates that are stacked. The bag is filled with flowable matter. The band is wrapped around the container and the cover.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/697,551 filed on Jul. 13, 2018. The entire contents of the priority application are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology described herein relates to a substrate housing structure.

BACKGROUND ART

An example of a substrate housing structure for carrying and storing glass substrates is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-26010. The substrate housing structure is for carrying a storing object the substrate housing structure. The storing object includes substrates that are stacked. The substrate housing structure includes reinforcing plates, an airbag, a supporting base, a first cover, and a second cover. The reinforcing plates sandwich the storing object in the vertical direction. The airbag presses the upper reinforcing plate. They are placed on the supporting base. The first and the second covers cover them up. With a uniform pressing force applied to entire upper surfaces of the storing object by the reinforcing plate and the airbag, the substrates are held in place with a uniform pressure from above. Therefore, the substrates are less likely to be displaced during transport and thus less likely to be damaged.

The substrate housing structure presses the upper surfaces of the substrates by the airbag via the reinforcing plate that includes a smooth surface. If the substrates include irregular surfaces, the pressure may not be even. To reduce displacement of the substrates in planar directions, another airbags may be required for pressing the substrates from sides. To adjust a pressure air pressure air device connected to the airbag, valves and tubes for supplying the pressure air are disposed. Namely, the number of components for adjustment of the pressure increases.

SUMMARY

The technology described herein is achieved based on the above circumstance. An object of the invention is to press top and side surfaces of substrates with a uniform pressure and to simplify adjustment of a pressing force.

A substrate housing structure includes a container, a cover, a bag, and a band. The container holds substrates therein. The cover covers an opening of the container. The bag is disposed in a space between the cover and a storing object that includes at least the substrates that are stacked. The bag is filled with flowable matter. The band is wrapped around the container and the cover.

The bag filled with the flowable matter has

The bag deforms along outlines of the substrate that may have irregular surfaces when the bag is disposed between the cover and the substrates. Therefore, a uniform pressing force is applied to entire surfaces of the substrates. Portions of the bag may be disposed on sides of the substrates. Therefore, pressing forces are easily applied to the side surfaces of the substrates. The pressing forces can be easily adjustable by altering the tightness of the band. The number of components for adjustment of the pressing forces can be significantly reduced.

According to the technology described herein, uniform pressure can be applied to upper surfaces and side surfaces of substrates with easy adjustment of the pressure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate housing structure according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the substrate housing structure in FIG. 1 without bands.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate housing structure along line in FIG. 1 without the bands.

FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating a storing object in a container according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a bag bonded to a cover according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the bag according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the second embodiment that includes the bag illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of a bag according to a modification.

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of a bag according to another modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION First Embodiment

A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 In this section, a substrate housing structure 100 will be described. The substrate housing structure 100 is used for carrying and storing twenty to fifty glass substrates that are stacked. Each of the glass substrates has a thickness of about 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm. The glass substrates are used for liquid crystal panels.

As illustrated in the exploded view in FIG. 1, the substrate housing structure 100 according to this embodiment includes a container 10, a cover 30, and bands 50. The container 10 has a box shape (a cuboid shape) and stores an object (a storing object 20, which will be described later). The cover 30 has a plate shape and covers an opening of the container 10. Each band 50 has a strip shape. The bands 50 are wrapped around the container 10 and the cover 30 to hold the container 10 and the cover 30 together. The container 10 includes a storing space 105 inside. As illustrated in the exploded view in FIG. 2 and the cross-sectional view in FIG. 3, the storing object 20 and a bag 40 are placed in the storing space 10S. The storing object 20 includes substrates 22 that are stacked. The bag 40 is disposed between the storing object 20 and the cover 30. An Inside of the bag 40 is filled with gas (an example of flowable matter). The storing object 20 can be taken in and out of the storing space 10S through an opening 11 of the container 10.

The storing object 20 according to this embodiment includes cushion sheets 24. The substrates 22 and the cushion sheets 24 are alternately disposed to reduce contact between the substrates 22 and to absorb impact. Each cushion sheet 24 is made of a material having insulating properties, resistance to impact, and flexibility (e.g., a formed polyolefin-based material such as formed polyethylene and formed polypropylene). Each cushion sheet 24 is formed in a sheet shape having a plane size that is about equal to a size of an inner bottom surface 12 of the container 10. Each substrate 22 is a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel. Each substrate 22 has a thickness of about 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm. The container 10 is designed so that a plane size of the substrate 22 is about 1/3 to 2/3 of the size of the inner bottom surface 12. As illustrated in the top views in FIGS. 3 and 4, the substrates 22 and the cushion sheets 24 are alternately placed on top of each other such that the substrates 22 are placed against a corner of the inner bottom surface 12. The substrates 22 and the cushion sheets 24 are stored as the storing object 20.

The container 10 will be described. The container 10 is made of a material having strength that is sufficient for holding the storing object 20 (e.g., formed polystyrene). The container 10 is designed to have a horizontally elongated shape in a plan view so that the plane size of the substrate 22 is about ⅓ to ⅔ of the inner bottom surface 12. The container 10 is designed slightly larger so that the container 10 can be used even if the thickness and the plane size of the substrates 22 are altered.

The container 10 includes outer grooves 13A in outer walls 13. The bands 50 having the strip shape are fitted in the outer grooves 13A, respectively. In this embodiment, four outer grooves 13A are arranged at equal intervals in each of two sidewalls on a short edge side (in the plan view) and three outer grooves 13A are arranged at equal intervals in each of two sidewalls on a long edge side (in the plan view) Each outer groove 13A has a rectangular shape along an outline of the band 50 and linearly extends from the top surface 14 to the outer bottom surface 16 of the container 10.

The container 10 may include inner walls 17 with an inner groove 17A. The inner groove 17A may be a rectangular groove that extends for an entire perimeter of the container 10. The inner groove 17A may be located higher than the top of the storing object 20 so that a portion of the bag 40 that is disposed between the storing object 20 and the cover 30 is inserted in the inner groove 17A when the bag 40 is deformed.

The cover 30 is made of a material having strength. that is sufficient for holding the storing object 20 (e.g., formed polystyrene). The cover 30 has a plate shape with an outline along an outline of the opening 11 of the container 10. A plane size of the cover 30 is slightly smaller than the opening 11 of the container 10 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Specifically, the short dimension and the long dimension of the cover 30 are about 1 to 2 mm less than those of the opening 11.

The bag 40 includes flexible film (e.g., a. polyethylene film, a nylon film) formed in a bag shape and an inner space filled with gas (e.g., air, an example of flowable matter). The bag 40 has a rectangular shape along the shape of the opening 11 of the container when the inner space is not filled with gas. The plane size of the bag 40 is greater than the opening 11 so that portions of the bag 40 enter spaces between the storing object 20 and the inner walls 17 of the container 10. The bag 40 may be bonded to the lower surface of the cover 30 and disposed between the storing object 20 and the cover 30. With the bag 40 bonded to the cover 30, the bag 40 can be handled with the cover 30 resulting in improvement in work efficiency during packing and unpacking. A known adhesive or a known adhesive tape may be used for bonding the bag 40 to the cover 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the bands 50 are flat belts made of synthetic resin. The bands 50 are placed along the respective outer grooves 13A to bind the container 10 and the cover 30 together and to apply pressing forces to the cover and the bag 40. Two of the bands 50 are along the long edges of the container 10 and the cover 30 and one of the bands 50 is along the short edges of the container 10 and the cover.

Next, functions and effects of the substrate housing structure 100 will be described When the bag 40 is placed between the cover 30 and the storing object 20, the bag 40 is deformed to fit the spaces to cover the top and sides of the storing object 20 as illustrated in FIG. 3 because the bag 40 has flexibility. Even if the substrates 22 have irregular surfaces resulting in irregular surfaces of the storing object 20, the bag 40 deforms along the surfaces of the storing object 20. Therefore, a uniform pressing force is applied to the entire upper surfaces of the substrates 22. Furthermore, pressing forces can be easily applied to the side surfaces of the substrates 22 with the portions of the bag 40 inserted between the spaces between the side surfaces of the substrates 22 and the inner walls 17 of the container 10. The pressing forces that press the storing object 20 are easily adjustable by altering the tightness of the bands 50. Therefore, the number of components for the pressing force adjustment can be reduced.

The substrates 22 that are glass substrates for liquid crystal panels may be fragile. With the cushion sheets 24 between the substrates 22 in the storing object 20, the substrates 22 are less likely to contact with each other and thus impact on the substrates 22 can be reduced. The size of each substrate 22 is about ⅓ to ⅔ of each cushion sheet 24, that is, the cushion sheets 24 are larger than the substrates 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the height of the space between the storing object 20 and the cover 30 under which the substrates 22 are present is different from the height of the space between the storing object 20 and the cover 30 under which the substrates 22 are not present. Because of the difference, the substrates 22 are more likely to be displaced in the horizontal direction. With the bag 40, the application of the pressing forces to the side surfaces of the substrates 22 can more effectively performed.

In this embodiment, the cover 30 is smaller than the opening 11 of the container 10. According to the configuration, the cover 30 is held inside the storing space 103. Therefore, the pressing force applied to the cover 30 can be easily transferred to the storing object 20 via the bag 40. By altering the tightness of the bands 50, the pressing forces applied to the storing object 20 can be easily adjusted.

However, the cover 30 that is smaller than the opening 11 creates gaps between the cover 30 and the top surface 14 of the container 10. This may result in reduction in thermal insulation performance of the container 10. If the substrates 22 are transported by air using the substrate housing structure 100, condensation may occur on the substrates 22 when the substrates 22 arrive at a destination due to a difference in temperature between on the ground and high up in the air. To reduce the condensation, an inner groove 17A may be formed in upper portions of the inner walls 17 of the container 10. With the portions of the bag 40 fitted in the inner groove 17A, the bag 40 is close contact with the inner walls 17. According to the configuration, the spaces between the cover 30 and the inner walls 17 are filled with the portions of the bag 40 to improve the thermal insulation performance.

With the outer grooves 13A in the outer walls 13 of the container in which the bands 50 are fitted, the bands 50 are less likely to be displaced, that is, the bands 50 are properly fixed. Therefore, the pressing forces applied to the storing object 20 can be increased. Furthermore, the positioning of the bands 50 can be easily performed and thus fitting of the bands 50 can be efficiently performed.

Second Embodiment

A bag 140 according to a second embodiment will be described. with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. The second embodiment includes a bag 140 that includes partitions 142. Configurations, functions, and effects similar to those of the first embodiment will not be described.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the bag 140 bonded to the cover 30 in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a partial exploded view of the bag 140 with an upper portion thereof is removed. The upper portion of the bag 140 is a portion bonded to the cover 30. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view including the cross-sectional view in FIG. 3 except for the bag that is replaced with the bag 140.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the bag 140 according to this embodiment includes the partitions 142 that divide an internal space of the bag 140 into sections. The partitions 142 are easily formed by bonding portions of an upper surface and a lower surface of the bag 140 together. The portions of the upper surface and the lower surface are opposed to each other. The partitions 142 may be formed with films that are separately prepared and bonded to the upper surface and the lower surface from the internal space side. Alternatively, small bags bonded to one another to form the bag 140 and bonded surfaces of the bags may be defined as the partitions 142. Namely, a method of forming the partitions 142 is not limited.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7, when the bag 140 s placed over the storing object 20, the partitions 142 are substantially perpendicular to an in-plane direction of the substrates 22. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the partitions 142 are arranged in a grid with equal intervals when viewed in plan. Specifically, the internal space of the bag 140 is divided into twenty-four sections with six lines of the sections in the longitudinal direction and four lines of the sections in the transverse direction. The partitions 142 include communication holes 142A so that the sections of the internal space (adjacent cells) can communicate with each other.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, it is preferable that the communication holes 142A are formed closer to the cover 30 so that the communication holes 142A are not closed with the storing object 20 when the bag 140 is pressed by the cover 30. It is more preferable that the communication holes 142A are configured such that all of the sections of the internal space communicate with each other. As illustrated in FIG. 6, every partition 142 includes corresponding one of the communication. holes 142A, that is, the communication holes 142A are arranged in a grid pattern. The partitions 142 define borders between the adjacent cells. Modifications are illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. FIGS. 8 and 9 are partial cross-sectional views of a bag 240 and a bag 340 according to the modifications without upper portions that are bonded to the covers 30. FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the modification including the communication holes arranged in a comb-like pattern and the modification including the communication holes arranged in a single line pattern, respectively.

Next, functions and effects of the partitions 142 will be described. With the partitions 142, airflows in the internal space of the bag 140 are restricted. This increases the pressing force of the bag 140. Specifically, with the partitions 142 substantially perpendicular to the in-plane direction of the substrates 22, the airflows in the thein-la .c are further restricted. Therefore, displacement of the substrates in the horizontal direction is less likely to occur.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the height of the space between the storing object 20 and the cover 30 in which the substrates 22 are not disposed is different from the height of the space between the storing object 20 and the cover 30 in which the substrates 22 are disposed. Therefore, when the airflows in the internal space are restricted by the partitions 142, pressure applied to the storing, object 20 by the bag 140 may vary from section to section of the storing object 20. With the communication holes 142A formed in the partitions 142, the airflows in the internal space of the bag 140 are allowed to a certain degree resulting in equalization of the pressing forces applied. to the storing object 20. Through the communication holes 142A. formed in the pattern such that all the sections of the internal space can communicate with each other, such as communication holes 142A arranged in the grid pattern as in FIG. 6, the communication holes 142A arranged in the comb-like pattern as in FIG. 8, and the communication holes 142A in the single line pattern as in FIG. 9, the airflows are allowed to reach all the sections of the internal space. This further improve the equalization of the pressing forces.

Other Embodiments

The technology described herein is not limited to the embodiments described in the above descriptions and drawings. The following embodiments may be included in the technical scope of the technology described herein.

(1) In the above embodiments, the container, the cover, and the cushion sheets have the rectangular shapes. However, they may have other shapes.

(2) In the above embodiments, the bag is filled with gas such as air. However, the bag may be filled with any flowable member such as liquid and gel.

(3) In the above embodiments, the cushion sheets are disposed between the substrates so that they are stacked. However, sheets made of a material having insulating properties, resistance to impact, and flexibility may be used. For example, paper sheets may be used.

(4) In the above embodiments, each substrate is about ⅓ to ⅔ of the cushion sheets. However, the substrates and the cushion sheets can be formed in any sizes as long as they can stored in the container.

(5) The shapes, the positions, the number, the sizes, and the intervals of the grooves in the outer walls are merely examples and can be altered where appropriate.

(6) The shapes, the positions, the number, the sizes, and the intervals of the recesses in the inner walls are merely examples and can be altered where appropriate. The recesses may not be formed in the inner walls to extend for the entire inner perimeter but in section of the inner walls.

(7) The shapes, the numbers, and the sizes of the bands in the embodiments are merely examples and can be altered where appropriate.

(8) In the second embodiment, the partitions are arranged in the grid pattern with equal intervals. However, the partitions may be arranged at unequal intervals or in a pattern other than the grid pattern.

(9) In the second embodiment, the communication holes arranged in the comb-like pattern or the single line pattern allow the airflows mainly in the longitudinal direction. However, the communication hole may be formed to allow the airflows in the transverse direction.

(10) In the above embodiment section, twenty to fifty glass substrates having the thickness of 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm for the liquid crystal panel are stacked for transport. However, the technology described herein can be applied to other types of substrates hazing different thicknesses, sizes, and the numbers. 

1. A substrate housing structure comprising: a container holding a plurality of substrates therein; a cover covering an opening of the container; a bag disposed in a space between the cover and a storing object including at least the plurality of the substrates that are stacked, the bag being filled with flowable matter; and a band wrapped around the container and the cover.
 2. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the storing object includes cushion sheets disposed between the substrates such that the substrates and the cushion sheets are alternately on top of each other, the cushion sheets being disposed to reduce contact between the substrate, and the cushion sheets have a size larger than a plane size of the plurality of the substrates.
 3. The substrate housing structure according to claim 2 wherein the size of the cushion sheets is about equal to a size of an inner bottom surface.
 4. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the cover is smaller than the opening.
 5. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the container includes a recess in an inner wall thereof in which the bag is inserted.
 6. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the bag includes partitions that divides an internal space into a plurality of sections.
 7. The substrate housing structure according to claim 6, wherein the partitions are substantially perpendicular to an in-plane direction of the substrates.
 8. The substrate housing structure according to claim 6, wherein the partitions include communication holes so that the sections of the internal space adjacent to the bag communicate with each other.
 9. The substrate housing structure according to claim 8, wherein the communication holes are formed so that all the sections of the internal space of the bag divided by the partitions communicate with each other.
 10. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the cover and the bag are bonded together.
 11. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the container includes a groove in an outer wall thereof in which the band is fitted.
 12. The substrate housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the substrates include glass substrates. 